‘Scooby-Doo’ Alum Matthew Lillard Found Out He Was Replaced As The Voice Of Shaggy In The Worst Way Possible

While Scooby-Doo tends to grab most of the attention — after all, the franchise is named after the eponymous Great Dane — his lifelong companion (and amateur detective) Shaggy Rogers has had an interesting year so far. As detailed by Polygon, the “Powerful Shaggy” meme has enjoyed a wave of success, thanks in part to being tangentially related to the long-running Dragon Ball franchise.

The meme has become so popular, that hundreds of thousands of fans have signed a petition to have him included in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 game. As reported by Newsweek, the petition, which is hosted at Change.org, has accrued close to 375,000 signatures, as of the time of this writing, though the creative director of Mortal Kombat 11 has confirmed that Shaggy won’t be included in the upcoming game.

The tall, lanky detective has also made headlines this past week, but for an entirely different reason. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Warner Bros. has announced a new animated Scooby-Doo, which will feature a handful of well-known celebrities who will take over voice-acting duties. Gina Rodriguez, best known for her work on Jane the Virgin, will lend her voice to the role of Velma, while Tracy Morgan will be taking on the role of Captain Caveman, a classic Hanna-Barbera character from the 1970s.

Unfortunately, Matthew Lillard, who has provided the voice of Shaggy for nearly a decade, will not be returning for this newly-announced animated feature. The problem? No one bothered to tell him.

As reported by IndieWire, Lillard found out that he was being replaced, not through his manager or Warner Bros., but via Twitter. It seems Matthew found out about the casting change via a tweet from the DiscussingFilm Twitter account.

Well this sucks. What a crappy way to find out…. thanks Hollywood. You never sense to amaze me. https://t.co/QDdlMAqlrZ

The new Scooby-Doo film, which is set to release sometime next year, will star Will Forte in the role of Shaggy Rogers.

Lillard first portrayed Shaggy in the live-action, 2002 film Scooby-Doo, where he co-starred alongside Freddie Prinze Jr., Sara Michelle Gellar, and Linda Cardellini. Lillard reprised his role in 2004’s Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which, like the 2002 film, was written by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn.

In 2010, veteran actor Casey Kasem retired from the voice role of Shaggy Rogers, which paved the way for Lillard to take up the mantle. Since then, Matthew has voiced Shaggy on TV, in animated movies, and in a handful of video games.

While fans won’t be able to see Matthew Lillard in next year’s untitled Scooby-Doo film, he will be returning for the second season of NBC’s Good Girls, where he stars alongside Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman.